Pittsburgh’s Travis Snider, right, takes down Milwaukee’s Carlos Gomez during a skirmish between the teams during the third inning Sunday, April 20, 2014. Gomez and Snider were ejected from the game. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

PITTSBURGH — Late last September, after he was involved in a benches-clearing incident between the Milwaukee Brewers and Atlanta Braves, Carlos Gomez apologized and accepted his one-game suspension.

On Sunday, the Brewers centerfielder wouldn’t apologize for his role in another one, an all-out brawl with the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park, and vowed he would appeal any suspension from Major League Baseball.

“That (Atlanta) game I know I go over (the line). But today I’m not,” Gomez said. “I’m not apologizing for nothing I did today. This is my job; I’ve been doing it for eight years like that. They know I play like that. It’s not to disrespect nobody. So if they take it like that, they don’t like it, that’s fine and I’m fine with it. It’s not a big deal.”

At issue was Gomez’s flip of the bat following a third-inning triple. Pirates starter Gerrit Cole didn’t like it and let Gomez know after he’d slid into third. Gomez reacted angrily, coming off the base toward Cole before being restrained by the umpire.

“I grabbed the ball from (third baseman Josh Harrison) and I said, ‘If you’re going to hit a home run, you can watch it. If you’re going to hit a fly ball to center field, don’t watch it.'” said Cole. “I didn’t curse at him, I didn’t try to provoke a fight. I was frustrated and I let my emotions get the better of me.”

Gomez said he was prepared to let things be until the benches cleared and Pirates reserve outfielder Travis Snider kept after him. Things turned ugly then, with both bullpens emptying, Snider tackling Gomez and Brewers backup catcher Martin Maldonado punching Snider in the head trying to protect his teammate.

“He come to me screaming at me, Snider. He’s the one who started it,” Gomez said. “Cole, he tell me something, I tell him something back and he walks to the mound. Everything’s fine. The game continue normal. But some idiot come out and do stupid stuff.”

Eventually both sides were separated with Gomez and Snider ejected. Brewers bench coach Jerry Narron was booted as well for what manager Ron Roenicke said was arguing the Pirates should have had more players ejected.

Gomez said his bat flip was misinterpreted.

“I’m not flipping my bat because I think it’s a home run. I thought it was an out,” he said. “I thought it was a fly-ball out, line drive center field. And I’m kind of like, ‘Oh, I had good contact but I don’t think it’s going out.’ It’s not like I’m pimping a home run.

“I don’t know why they’re mad for something like that. (Jose) Tabata hit a double, pimped it, we don’t do nothing. (Andrew) McCutchen did it yesterday. Russell Martin did it. We do nothing. We respect that — ‘You win, OK, enjoy it.’ We hit a double, we hit a triple, they get mad.

“I don’t think it’s fair.”

With this being Gomez’s second incident in a relatively short amount of time, and replays apparently showing Gomez swinging his helmet as a weapon at one point, punishment could escalate to multiple games. Gomez says he’ll appeal whatever he’s given.

“I’m not expecting that,” Gomez said of potentially receiving multiple games. “I’m not the one who makes the decision. Whatever they say, I’m going to appeal it because I’m not the one that started nothing

“I hit, I run and somebody’s screaming at me. That’s it. I’m not starting nothing. When they strike me out, I say nothing. I walk to the dugout with my mouth shut and I don’t say nothing. They get a hit, they’re screaming, I don’t think it’s fair. You want to do something? Strike me out and enjoy it. I’m not going to be pissed off for you to strike me out.

“I’ve struck out a lot of times and nothing’s happened.”

The Brewers are in a bad spot as far as outfield depth. With Logan Schafer on the disabled list, Gomez’s replacement for the time being looks to be utility man Elian Herrera, who was called up from Class AAA Nashville at the start of the Pittsburgh series.

Maldonado, too, will likely be facing a suspension for his role in the incident.

“I saw Snider and Martin over Gomez. I could tell it wasn’t fair, so I had to protect my teammate,” he said. “I don’t worry about (a suspension). That’s part of baseball. Whatever happens.”

With the Brewers’ bullpen blown out after playing 14 innings Sunday, there could be a flurry of moves to be made.

“I’m concerned about our pitching staff, where we are, and I’m concerned about the outfield,” Roenicke acknowledged. “I don’t know what we’re going to do. We just talked about it, and I’ll call (general manager) Doug (Melvin) and we’ll talk.”

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